Library Records Policy

Access to Library Records 

The following regulation is hereby enacted by the Trustees of the Amityville Public Library in accordance with Public Officers Law, Article 6, Sections 84 through 90, commonly known as the Freedom of Information Act and appended as part of this policy.

Records Access Officer 

The Library Director, whose office is located at Corner of Oak & John Streets, is hereby designated as the Records Access Officer.  The Records Access Officer is the person from whom those Library records, memoranda, documents, or the written information required to be made available to the public by the Act may be obtained.  In the event the Library Director is absent and such absence will preclude a timely response to a request, the senior Librarian is authorized to respond to requests for records.

General Information 

  1. Request for inspection of copies of such records as are required to be made available by the Act, as well as other applicable law, may be made to the Library Director during all hours during which the Library is regularly open for business.  These hours shall ordinarily be Monday through Friday from 9:30 am to 5:00 pm.
  2. All Library records other than those specifically excepted by Public Officers Law 87(2) are available for public inspection.
  3. The following records of the Amityville Public Library are available for inspection and photocopying in the reference section of the Library during regular Library hours without the need to submit a request as detailed in Part III below.
    1. Policy statements adopted by the Board of Trustees.

Procedure for Obtaining Access to Records 

  1. Requests to inspect records or secure copies thereof shall be submitted in writing, either in person or by mail, to the Records Access Officer.  The request shall contain the name and address of the requestor, identification of the record, document or other data required and any other information that will help locate the record with as great a degree of clarity and specificity as may be practical.  An application for requesting records will be available.
  2. Within five (5) business days of the receipt of a request, the Director will make the records available, deny access in writing stating the reason for denial, or furnish a written acknowledgment of receipt of the request and advise the approximate date when the request will be granted or denied. 

Denial of Records and Appeal Procedure 

  1. When a request for access to a public record is denied, the Library Director will indicate in writing the reasons for such denial and inform the applicant of the right to appeal.
  2. An applicant denied access to a public record may file an appeal within thirty (30) days after the denial by delivering or mailing a copy of the request and a copy of the denial to the President of the Board of Trustees, who is the designated Records Appeal Officer.
  3. The applicant and the Committee on Open Government will be informed of the decision of the Records Appeals Officer in writing within ten (10) business days of receipt of an appeal. The Library Director shall transmit to the New York State Committee on Open Government photocopies of all appeals and determinations.
  4. The applicant may seek judicial review of a final agency denial by means of a proceeding initiated under Article 78 of the Civil Practice Law and Rules.

Examination and Copying of Records 

  1. Those records to which access has been granted shall be made available at the Library during regular business hours.  These hours shall ordinarily be Monday through Friday from 9:30 am to 5:00 pm.
  2. All such records shall be withdrawn and replaced by an employee of the Library designated by the Library Director.
  3. Library records shall not be removed from the premises. Any and all records to which access has been granted may be copied by the user at the prevailing cost of the Library’s coinoperated photocopier.
  4. In the event that in the material or the records or documents requested a portion of such record or document is deemed by the Library Director to be excludable material as listed in Article 87(2), the Library Director is authorized and directed to delete such information from any copies made available to the requestor, or to not make available for inspection the original of such record but only a copy having first deleted the unauthorized information.

Confidentiality of Library Records 

The following regulation is hereby enacted by the Trustees of the Amityville Public Library in accordance with New York State Civil Practice Law and Rules 4509, the ALA Bill of Rights and the ALA Freedom to Read Statement. 

Purpose 

In recognizing the Library’s position of special trust with members of the public, the Trustees of the Amityville Public Library wish to clarify their policy and responsibility with regard to confidential information about patrons and patron use of Library resources. 

As choice of books and other Library materials, along with the use of the informational resources of the Library, is essentially a private endeavor on the part of each individual patron, the Library shall make every reasonable and responsible effort to see that information about that patron and his/her choices remain confidential.  For people to make full and effective use of Library resources, they must feel unconstrained by the possibility that others may become aware of the books they read, the materials they use and the questions they ask.

Guidelines 

  1. No information regarding or including the following shall be divulged:
    1. A patron’s name, address and/or telephone number and whether the individual is or was a registered Library borrower.
    2. The Library’s circulation records and their contents
    3. The Library’s borrower’s records and their contents.
    4. Records and information relating to a patron’s computer database searches, interlibrary loan transactions, reference inquiries, requests for photocopies of Library materials, title reserve requests, or the use of Audiovisual materials, films or recordings.
  2. The frequency or content of a patron’s lawful visit(s) to the Library or any other information supplied to the Library (or gathered by it) shall not be given, made available or disclosed to any individual, institution, government agency or agency without a valid process order of subpoena.  Upon presentation of such a process order or subpoena, the Library shall resist its enforcement until such time as proper showing of good cause has been made in a court of competent jurisdiction.

Records Requests 

Requests for information shall follow all procedure as established in Part I (above ) “Access to Library Records”. 

Adopted April 23, 1998; Reviewed October 19, 2000; Amended 6/21/07

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